And now, having listened to why some people do not belong to the Church, let us regard a few reasons why each and every Christian ought to be a church-member. First, there is the positive command of God. The Lord said unto Noah--commanded, directed him: "Come thou and all thy house into the ark." His directions to us and ours are not less specific. His Third Commandment reads: "Thou shalt sanctify the holyday." Where does the sanctification of that day take place but in His Church, in the observance of its institutions? He warns: "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is." Again, take all such clear passages in which He commands us to profess piety as this: "I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father which is in heaven," which, if it means anything, certainly means that we must either be publicly and openly rated among His confessors, or He will not consent to acknowledge us among His saints. How can a man be a proper child of God who will not so much as give His name as a believer? What guarantee has he to count securely on salvation if he refuses to say before men whether he takes Christ as his Redeemer, or not? It is true: "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness," but it is equally true: "With the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Church-membership is not optional; it is imperative, it is based upon God's command. Another reason for church-membership is, that a Christian must advance his Master's cause. If you are at liberty to decline connection with Christ's Church, then I am; if one is, all are, and how, then, can there be the maintenance of the ministry, the furtherance of the manifest kingdom of God? We pray daily: "Hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." When is God's name hallowed? When does His kingdom come? And by what influences and agencies is His will done on earth but by this organization established by Himself for that purpose,--His holy Church? Who keeps up the work of the ministry with its schools of education, who maintains the propagation of the faith by the support of missions, and all those other efforts essential to the preservation and spreading of Christ's kingdom, and you, as a disciple of Christ, should be found standing aloof from it, not helping along yourself, yea, by your passive indifference and non-cooperation setting a bad example unto others? Your duty in this respect is as plain as Noah's,--you should get into the ark.